Cliff Hudson

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — A downtown public parking lot that could figure into expansion plans by one of Cleveland’s oldest churches is underused, a city official said.

The city lot at Church and Central streets, next to First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, has 84 spaces, according to a memo from Public Works Director Tom Grant.

But an informal tally by First Cumberland Presbyterian pastor Cliff Hudson showed the lot usually isn’t much more than half full.

Last month the city asked Mr. Hudson to keep a count. He did so from his office overlooking the lot. His count shows even less use now.

“Our survey showed it was never over 60 percent,” he said. “And that includes some city cars parked on the lower side of the lot.”

A 2000 study by consultants Barge, Waggoner, Sumner and Cannon indicated all downtown parking lots were underused and that downtown employees as well as the public were much more likely to use on-street parking.

That study showed the lot at Church and Central had 71 percent use with an average stay of more than five hours.

Leaders of First Cumberland Presbyterian have been talking with the city about the church’s need to grow and its desire to remain downtown. Mr. Hudson has suggested the church could find space in the city parking lot.

City Council members agreed last week the city and church should keep working toward a solution.

“We want to keep the church downtown,” Mayor Tom Rowland said.

Mr. Rowland and Public Works Director Tom Grant pointed out that any arrangement would affect overall downtown parking, especially on weekends and Sundays. Other downtown churches use much of the downtown parking for Sunday services too, they noted.

Mr. Grant said the city should take action to increase turnover of on-street parking.

He is suggesting three options for the city to consider.

First is turning a city lot between the church and the Community Development office into a public parking lot and extending it to Central Avenue. That would recover 23 spaces the city would lose from the larger lot if it becomes part of the church.

The second option is to convert the corner property at Central and Parker into 16 parking spaces.

The third is to demolish the Community Development building and combine the lot with the lot at Central and Parker, regaining 33 lost spaces. That’s the most expensive option, Mr. Grant said.

Mr. Grant said he also has looked at the SkyRidge Medical Center’s parking garage to get an idea of what might be needed if a similar structure is built downtown.